Hello everybody..

This is my first post over here at 914club. I normally post over at Rennlist, but i've been directed this way because i'm considering buying a 914. Here's the story:

Got bored the other night and was browsing through the classifieds when I saw a 1974 914 1.8 FI for sale. After talking to the owner and viewing some pictures its a very complete (interior looks immaculate!) project car. It has been off the road for 10 years. Owner says this summer they brought it out of storage and replaced a ton of parts and got it to run on 2 cylinders and it just needs a control box to run on all four. Owner also states that just before the car was stored away 10 years ago, it was getting a little harder to shift like the clutch needs adjusting.

As far as the rust situation, here is what i've got out of it so far. There is rust around the edges - door sills, floor corners, near latches, exterior. " In the foot wells, there are holes rusted through where water can accumulate - like where it makes the bend up from the floor to meet the sill. " "Under the carpet looks pretty good" This is what I got from the seller. From what i've seen in the pictures, the car looks good. I know pictures don't do anything justice, but the car isn't trashed.

I know for sure I can get the car for $500 dollars, which seems like it could be a good deal. If I nit pick maybe even a little cheaper than that. I've never actually driven a 914, plenty of 911s, but never a 914.

Anyways...might be a fun summer project, and if the price is right I thought it could have potential. Of course, i'd only be out $500 bucks or so if anything major was wrong that I didn't feel like taking on and I surely could part it out.

Thoughts?

We need pics to approve a car

QUOTE

Owner says this summer they brought it out of storage and replaced a ton of parts and got it to run on 2 cylinders and it just needs a control box to run on all four.

I've never heard of a car running on only 2 cylinders because of the brain box
Thats kinda wierd, doesn't seem right to me.

QUOTE

As far as the rust situation, here is what i've got out of it so far. There is rust around the edges - door sills, floor corners, near latches, exterior. " In the foot wells, there are holes rusted through where water can accumulate - like where it makes the bend up from the floor to meet the sill. " "Under the carpet looks pretty good" This is what I got from the seller. From what i've seen in the pictures, the car looks good. I know pictures don't do anything justice, but the car isn't trashed.

Well, you can also learn to weld, doesn't seem like major spots. Ask about rust in the "hell hole" and area under the battery in the engine compartment on and around the suspension console. Also, how are the longs?

Jim

Ask the owner if it is ok to take off the targa top, then do so. Open both doors and sit in the drivers side. Close the door. Do the same on the passenger side. If either of the doors does not smoothly close, you have trouble. You can look down the sides of the car to see if the seams all line up. Look at the right rear wheel. It should be vertical. If it has an angle to it, you have got problems.

My advice would be to buy the car for the smallest amount you can. Once you get it in your garage, tear EVERYTHING out. The engine/transaxle is surprisingly easy to remove. Tear out the entire interior, including the carpet. Take off the outer rockers, the carpet in the rear trunk, the spare tire in the front trunk etc...

Once you have all of this done, you can get a good look at what you have. Salt does terrible things to these cars, and I'm sure it is no different where you live. At the very least, a good motor/tranny and interior is worth your investment. You can always buy a good or "fixed" roller for a reasonable price (not for much longer as these cars are getting rare). You can swap parts to the new roller and have a good driver.

BTW, the first two 914's I purchased were hopelessly rusted and could not be saved.

Corby

Here's what I have so far.

That big hole in the engine bay... is not supposed to be there.

You can probably do a lot better for a driver. It is probably pretty far gone because of the rust. But it might be a decent parts car.

Run away! (I see light through that big hole.. that's a parts car for all but the most determined)

QUOTE (balthazar @ Jan 15 2005, 04:29 PM)

Ask the owner if it is ok to take off the targa top, then do so. Open both doors and sit in the drivers side. Close the door. Do the same on the passenger side. If either of the doors does not smoothly close, you have trouble. You can look down the sides of the car to see if the seams all line up. Look at the right rear wheel. It should be vertical. If it has an angle to it, you have got problems. Corby

Hi Corby..

The problem is that the car is about 200 miles away from me, so I will be buying it sight unseen. Good questions though that I will asking the owner via e-mail.

Those pictures turned out really dull for some reason. Oops. What would you guys offer for the car?

Looks like most of the parts are in good shape.. Probably worth $500 if you need the parts. If you don't need the parts...

hm, who needed that battery tray anyways? Looks like it may be hiding some further crustage. Find one in good body condition and that would be a killer parts car! Cant really tell w/o looking though.

The thing is, i'm really NOT in the market for a 914. I have a 944 right now, and I always said to myself, if I ever find a 914 that I can pick up for cheap for a project/weekend car I will. Thats what I figured i've got here, but if I don't buy this one, i'm not going to go out and buy a restored 914 for 10 grand.

why cant i see the pics with IE or firefox

Can't see them either.

QUOTE (Headrage @ Jan 15 2005, 06:14 PM)

Can't see them either.

you cant hotlink .GIF files

For everyone who can't view the pictures, here are the direct links.

http://www.geocities.com/phatrick88/pic1.gif
http://www.geocities.com/phatrick88/pic2.gif
http://www.geocities.com/phatrick88/pic3.gif
http://www.geocities.com/phatrick88/pic4.gif
http://www.geocities.com/phatrick88/pic5.gif
http://www.geocities.com/phatrick88/pic6.gif
http://www.geocities.com/phatrick88/pic7.gif

Looks like to many people viewed your pics.

The link says the site is down.

Well, it is geocities...

It says it will be up within the hour. Strange.

I'm sure it was too much traffic...you can link gifs, though.

914s are a blast to drive, but to buy parts and stuff can cost as much as 911 stuff, or sometimes cheap like VW stuff..but more like 911 stuff.

sell that waterpumper, and get a 914. I've had lots of flavors of P Cars and the teeners are the most fun to drive.

no pictures. but from the sound of it, if you buy it and start on it, you will still not have driven a 914, or at least not for very long. $500 is a good start towards shipping a west coast car. if it has fuch wheels on it you can sell them and only be $100 in the hole.

kevin

Offer $400 and buy it as a parts car. the rust will most likely be much worse then what shows on the surface.

QUOTE (bondo @ Jan 15 2005, 04:58 PM)

Run away! (I see light through that big hole.. that's a parts car for all but the most determined)

Which picture do you see a big hole with light? I've been trying to spot this.

Oh, I dunno if this means much but it was stated that major frame welding was done before it was stored to stiffen the frame.

I think he means pic #4. the area next to the engine should contain the battery tray and the side wall of the engine compartment. as it is shown it looks like someone cut the area out to replace it, but then never did. I would look for a car that needs less work. the frame repair may not be a good thing.

QUOTE (pcarfan944 @ Jan 15 2005, 09:29 PM)

Which picture do you see a big hole with light? I've been trying to spot this. Oh, I dunno if this means much but it was stated that major frame welding was done before it was stored to stiffen the frame.

Pic 4. At the bottom left of the big hole there looks to be a spot of light. I think the light is either coming from either the hole by the door latch plate or the one at the rear of the sill plate. Both are visible in the last pic.

There's alot of important suspension bits right below that whole area, and it the part you can see is that bad, the important stuff you can't is probably worse. I'm guessing the "stiffening" was done to repair damage under there. Search on this site for "suspension ear" "suspension console" "hell hole" and "DAPO" to see how poorly this area is repaired sometimes.

Hmm... I see

Does anyone have a good picture of what this section of the car SHOULD look like, just so I can compare? I'll look around and try to find some, but maybe somebody can beat me to it.

I hope the seller isn't getting too fed up with all my questions. Although i'm probably the only one dumb enough to be interested in the car so they're probably just flattered that someone actually cares. I'll see if they can take more pictures, hopefully so we can see more details.

I do like the idea of using it for its parts and maybe finding a roller. Most 914s i've seen have very shoddy interiors and the interior parts on this look new compared to most, might be worth picking it up just for that.

So let's say I decide to buy it and strip it all out, and then try to fix the rust, how much work would that be? Probably more than it's worth otherwise more people would buy rusty examples I suppose.

This is a great group so far, thanks for all the help guys. If I do buy it you'll be seeing a lot more of me.

Here's one:

And here's one with the battery tray and engine shelf removed. The brackety thing below on the left of the pic is the engine mount, and the one on the right is the suspension ear.

How good are you with body work? Alot of time will be spent with this car to make it right. Cut this out weld that in, ect. If you like your 944 & are looking for some thing to play with a little on the side. Keep looking. The interior is inticing though.
E

Picture #2 there is rust at the end of the 1/4 panel, just above the jack point. I'd want to look at the long under there to see how far the rust has gone.

Picture #4 As mentioned above. The parts to repair this area would cost almost as much as you are spending on the car.

Picture #6 The hole in the door sill combined with the missing metal in Pic #4 would leed me to believe that the long on that side is in very rough shape (if there at all)

Would I buy it? Yes at $500 it's worth it for the parts alone, but I have space to store it and the tools/ability to repair the rust.

There are some excelent threads here on rust replacement of just those areas, with step by step pictures of what others have done to save their cars.

So if you have space to store it, space to work on it, the tools to do the work and the drive to do it, you can aquire the knowledge to repair it.

QUOTE (jet1 @ Jan 15 2005, 08:49 PM)

I think he means pic #4. the area next to the engine should contain the battery tray and the side wall of the engine compartment. as it is shown it looks like someone cut the area out to replace it, but then never did. I would look for a car that needs less work. the frame repair may not be a good thing.

Looks like the po wanted the ppi to be a piece 'o cake. Even cut out the battery tray
to make it easy to inspect the suspension console. You can't ask for more than that!!!
Interior looks good. Offer 300.- & I'll gladly take the seats off your handz.